Thoughts on Incrementalism

Terry Brown has an op-ed in Inside Higher Ed that defends incrementalism when trying to change higher ed:

[Teresa Sullivan of UVa’s] firing and reinstatement may be read as a cautionary tale for ready/fire/aim-style leaders who believe that urgency justifies acting first and thinking later.

Fair enough. Ready, Fire, Aim can certainly lead to bad decisions.

But it should be remembered that higher education’s natural instinct, confirmed by the last 400 years of history is Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, and Aim some more (see here for a good primer on higher education’s resistance to change). Any process that actually leads to a decision—including Ready, Aim, Fire—will seem rushed to those that are accustomed to Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim, and Aim some more.

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